Community should support rehab project

As a graduate student of social work, I am a huge advocate of issues surrounding substance abuse. As of 2018, 20.3 million people who are 12 and older have a substance use disorder. Substance abuse affects our friends, family, co-workers and community members.

I know that many people in the community are concerned with the proposal to turn the Holiday Inn in Itasca into Haymarket DuPage rehab center. The main concern is the fact that Itasca's police and emergency services would not be able to serve a facility this large. But, look at the bigger picture. Substance abuse has a massive negative impact on individuals, their families and friends and even their communities.

As a member of a community near Itasca, I know I would want to support and provide care for my other community members. If I were struggling with substance abuse, I would hope that my community would have such a resource.

If the main concern is the demand on Itasca's emergency services, then maybe a smart compromise would be to not use all of the rooms in the old Holiday Inn as beds. Instead of 240 beds, maybe Haymarket could cut that amount in half. That way, we would still be able to serve a large percentage of the community.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Haymarket is proposing to have its own private ambulance service. Also, Haymarket is not just an inpatient facility. They have many other treatment services offered that wouldn't necessarily require emergency services to be called.

The main reason we have emergency services is to provide help to those in the community. If Haymarket wants to provide support to those who struggle with substance abuse in the community, then shouldn't the emergency services be supportive of their community members as well?

Rachel Nicholson Schaumburg